Sprayer for decontamination

ABSTRACT

A DEVICE FOR SPRAYING WATER ON THE FACE, IN THE EYES, OR ON OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY TO DECONTAMINATE SAME OF CHEMICALS AND OTHER IRRITANTS WHICH MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN INDUSTRY, LABORATORIES, ETC. THE SPRAYER IS ARRANGED TO BE READILY LOCKED IN POSITION IN A COUNTER ADJOINING A SINK TO DISCHARGE WATER INTO THE SINK RATHER THAN UPON   OTHER SURROUNDING AREAS. THE SPRAYER MAY ALSO BE QUICKLY WITHDRAWN FROM ITS LOCKED MOUNTED POSITION IN THE COUNTER AND MANIPULATED TO SPRAY WATER ON ANY DESIRED PORTION OF THE BODY.

June 1, 1971 A. c. WRIGHT SPRAYER FOR DEGONTAMINATION Filed March 13, 1968 ,-'A\ INVENTOR. Allen (1. Wnqhf 4 Attor eqs United States Patent Oifice 3,581,317 Patented June l, 1971 3,581,317 SPRAYER FOR DECONTAMINA'IION Allen C. Wright, Moraga, Calif., assignor to Haws Drinking Faucet Company, Berkeley, Calif. Filed Mar. 13, 1968, Ser. No. 712,816 int. Cl. E03c 1/00 U.S. Cl. 4-487 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for spraying water on the face, in the eyes, or on other parts of the body to decontaminate same of chemicals and other irritants which may be encountered in industry, laboratories, etc. The sprayer is arranged to be readily locked in position in a counter adjoining a sink to discharge water into the sink rather than upon other surrounding areas. The sprayer may also be quickly withdrawn from its locked mounted position in the counter and manipulated to spray water on any desired portion of the body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In various industries, laboratories, and the like, it is not uncommon for workers to accidentally contaminate portions of their body with corrosive, or otherwise harmful irritants, such as acids or other chemicals. Damage to the contaminated body portions can be frequently prevented, or at least minimized, by immediately spraying same with water to wash off or dilute the irritant. Accordingly, it is common practice to provide water spraying devices at conveniently accessible locations such that a worker can immediately wash ofi? portions of the body that have become contaminated. Such devices are frequently provided as spray heads mounted in fixed position in the bottom of a sink to spray water upwardly. The face or hands of a worker may thus be held in position over the sink to receive the upwardly directed spray stream. It will be appreciated with such an arrangement the directivity of the spray on contaminated body portions is limited by virtue of the spray heads being mounted in fixed position. In various alternative arrangements, a spray head is coupled to the end of a flexible hose and adapted to be mounted in a counter adjoining the sink. The mounting is such that the head may be grasped to withdraw the head and trailing length of hose from the counter whereby the head may be manipulated as desired to direct the spray on the contaminated body portions. However, nothing has been provided to lock the head in mounted position with an orientation that insures the water will be discharged into the sink, rather than undesirably to other surrounding areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a decontaminating sprayer having a spray head which may be locked in a mounted position in a counter adjacent a sink with an orientation to discharge water into the sink, and which yet may be quickly withdrawn or released from its locked mounted position and manipulated to spray water on contaminated portions of the body.

In the accomplishment of the foregoing, the sprayer of the present invention generally comprises a spray head connected by means of a flexible hose to a suitable valve for controlling the flow of water from a supply pipe. A mounting member is provided which is adapted to be secured within a bore in a counter adjoining a sink and is engageable by a base of the head to releasably mount same in position on the counter. The valve is preferably adapted to be mounted in the counter with the hose extending therefrom beneath the counter and upwardly through the mounting member into connection with the base of the head. In accordance with the particularly salient aspects of the invention, the mounting member and base of the head are provided with complementary mterengaging portions to releasably lock the head in its mounted position on the counter with an orientation to insure that water sprayed from the head is discharged into the sink. Yet, the interengaging portions are such that the base of the head may be readily disengaged from the mounting member to enable the head to be Withdrawn from its mounted position followed by a trailing section of the hose. In addition, the sprayer preferably includes guide means adapted to be mounted beneath the counter for guiding the hose through the mounting member in a non-binding, easy-to-pull manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a decontaminating sprayer in accordance with the present invention as installed in a counter adjoining a sink.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the counter, illustrating particularly the operative cooperation between the components of the sprayer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken. at line 3-3 of FIG. 2, illustrating the upper portion of a mounting member of the sprayer.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken at line 44 of FIG. 2, illustrating the lower portion of the base of a spray head of the sprayer.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged elevational view with portions broken away of the base portion of the spray head.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the mounting member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing in detail, particularly FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown a counter 11 adjoining a sink 12, and a decontaminating sprayer in accordance with the present invention which includes a spray head 13 adapted to be mounted on the counter, and a valve 14 adapted to be secured beneath the counter with a plunger 16, or equivalent. actuating element extending upwardly therefrom. The head is connected to the valve by means of a flexible hose 17, and the valve may be actuated, in the present instance by depression of the valve-actuating plunger 16, to effect the flow of water from a supply pipe (not shown) through the hose for discharge from the head. The hose is disposed beneath the counter and extends from the valve to the head upwardly through a mounting member 18 which is secured in a bore 19 provided in the counter. The mounting member, in a manner subsequently described in detail, serves to releasably mount the head on the counter in a locked position to discharge the water sprayed therefrom into the sink 12, as shown in FIG. 1. Thus, when the head is in its locked mounted. position and the valve actuating plunger 16 is depressed, water is sprayed into the sink. A worker may then hold contaminated body portions over the sink in the spray stream discharged from the head. The water is hence collected in the sink rather than being undesirably sprayed on other surrounding areas. Alternatively, the head and trailing section of the hose may be withdrawn from the mounting member, as shown in FIG. 2, such that the head may be manipulated as desired to spray water on. the contaminated body portions.

Considering now the mounting member 18 and spray head 13 in greater detail as to the manner in which the head is releasably mounted in locked position on the counter 11, it is first to be noted that the head preferably includes a spray nozzle 21 connected by means of a goose neck 22 to a stem 23 having a base 24 at its lower end arranged to cooperate with the mounting member 18 in the releasable mounting of the head. More particularly, the base preferably includes a collar 26 formed on the stem 23 adjacent an externally threaded lower end portion 27 thereof. The threaded end portion serves to receive a threaded coupling 28 for facilitating securance of the hose 17 to the stem. The collar is provided with one or a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections here shown as longitudinally extending ribs or splines 29, preferably of tapered triangular or wedge-shaped configuration. In the illustrated case three splines angularly spaced at 120 intervals are provided, and they respectively incline downwardly and inwardly toward the hose 17. The base 24 also includes a dome 31 outwardly flared from the stem at a position upwardly spaced from the collar to a position spaced slightly downward from the upper end thereof. The lower end of the dome is outwardly spaced from the collar and encompasses the upper enlarged ends of the splines, as best shown in FIG. 5.

The mounting member 18 is preferably provided as a circular plate 32 having an annular coaxially depending skirt 33 inwardly spaced from the rim thereof. The skirt is arranged to fit through the bore 19 in the counter 11, while the plate is adapted to be secured to the counter as by means of a plurality of circumferentially spaced screws 34 extending through the flanged portion of the plate defined outwardly of the skirt. The plate is provided with a central circular aperture 36, and in accordance with a particularly important feature of the invention a plurality of circumferentially spaced notches 37 extend radially outward from the aperture in complementary relation to the splines 29 of the spray head base 24. Thus, in the illustrated case there are three notches angularly spaced by 120. The aperture and notches serve to receive the collar 26 and splines 29 of the spray head base 24 to a depth determined by the dome 31 engaging the plate 32, thereby mounting the spray head on the counter with a locked orientation to spray water into the sink 12. The spray head may of course be readily withdrawn from its mounted locked position merely by lifting the head from the mounting member to thereby disengage the collar and splines from the aperture and notches. The aperture permits traversal by the trailing length of hose 17 when the head is thus withdrawn from its mounted position.

It will be appreciated that there might normally be a tendency for the hose 17 to bind in being pulled through the aperture 36 of mounting plate 32 when the spray head is withdrawn from mounted position. To overcome this difliculty, the sprayer preferably includes guide means 38 for guiding the hose 17 substantially coaxially through the aperture in a non-binding easy-to-pull or to-push manner. More particularly, the guide means advantageously comprises a generally U-shaped bracket 39 adapted to be secured beneath the counter 11, as by means of screws 41, at a position subjacent the mounting member 18. The web of the bracket is provided with a central aperture 42 circumscribed by a ring 43 having a smooth low friction surface. With the bracket secured in position, the aperture 42 is coaxially aligned with the aperture 36 of the mounting plate in downwardly spaced relation thereto. The hose 17 extends through aperture 42 in route to the aperture 36 and is consequently guided substantially coaxially upward through the' latter. By virtue of the low friction surface of the ring 43, the hose does not bind and may be easily pulled upwardly and pressed downwardly through the mounting plate aperture 36.

I claim:

1. A decontaminating sprayer comprising a spray head having a base means, a flexible hose connected to the spray head and adapted for connection to a water supply, a mounting member adapted to be secured within a bore in a counter adjoining a sink, said member having an aperture traversed by said hose and engageable by said base means of said spray head, means defining locking portions on said base means, and means defining locking portions in said member adjoining said aperture complementary to said locking portions on said base means, said locking portions on said base means and in said mounting member being releasably interengageable when said base means is engaged in said aperture to lock said head in a position with an orientation to spray water upwardly and into said sink.

2. In combination with a counter adjoining a sink, a decontaminating sprayer comprising a spray head including a nozzle connected by a goose neck to a stem, said stem having a collar adjacent its lower end, said collar having a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending upwardly and outwardly tapered triangular splines, a dome outwardly flared from said stem at a position upwardly spaced from said collar to a position downwardly spaced from the upper end thereof, the lower end of said dome being outwardly spaced from said collar and encompassing the upper ends of said splines, a mounting member including a circular plate having an annular coaxially depending skirt inwardly spaced from the rim of said plate, said skirt disposed in a bore through said counter, said plate having a central aperture with a plurality of circumferentially spaced notches extending radially therefrom in complementary relation to said splines, said collar and splines releasably engaged in said aperture and notches to lock the spray head in a position oriented to spray water upwardly and into the sink, means securing said plate to said counter, a substantially U-shaped guide bracket secured to said counter subjacent said mounting member, said bracket having a web with a central aperture in downwardly spaced coaxial alignment With said aperture in said plate, said aperture of said web circumscribed by a ring having a smooth low friction surface, water supply valve means secured beneath said counter having an actuating element extending upwardly therefrom, and a flexible hose connecting said valve means to the lower end of said stem of said spray head, said hose traversing said aperture in the web of said bracket and said aperture in the plate of said mounting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 134,362 12/1872 Corliss 308-4 535,208 3/1895 Kelly 4-191 1,031,843 7/1912 Gavin 4-166; 4-191X 1,125,564 1/1915 Krohn 4-191 1,237,143 8/1917 Allen 77-62; 308-4UX 1,571,268 2/1926 Hein 308-4 2,014,639 9/1935 Stumm 277-7; 4-159X 2,200,503 5/1940 Judell et al. 4-187; 4-159UX 2,315,153 3/1943 Ellinger 4-159 2,637,282 5/1953 Belshaw et al 107-14; 308-4X 2,819,926 1/1958 Wood 299-13; 4-191X 2,173,064 9/1939 Judell 4-187 2,347,330 4/1944 Noyes 299-139; 4-187X FOREIGN PATENTS 428,356 5/1935 Great Britain 4-159 176,575 4/1935 Switzerland 4-159 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner D. B. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner 

